Japanese Core Words and Phrases: Things You Can't Find in a Dictionary (Power Japanese Series) (Kodansha's Children's Classics) (Paperback)

~ Kakuko Shoji (Author)
Key Phrases: dictionary form, sample sentences

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Some Japanese words and phrases, even though they lie at the core of the language, forever elude the student's grasp. They are not explained satisfactorily in dictionaries or textbooks for the simple reason that they cannot be conveniently defined. Japanese Core Words and Phrases brings these recalcitrants to bay.

The book is divided into two parts, each of which is arranged in alphabetical order. The first part is devoted to words indicating physical as well as psychological distance--roughly equivalent to "this," "that," "that over there," and "where," but quite different in usage. Physical distance is covered in most textbooks, but psychological distance--every student's nemesis--is not.

The second part of the book covers a variety of idiomatic expressions, many of which appear in Japanese proficiency tests. Each entry word or phrase is not simply explained but exemplified in sentence form, clarifying its meaning (in the case of many students) for the very first time.

Japanese Core Words and Phrases has a great deal to offer the beginning student and much to offer the intermediate student. Little more can be asked of a book on the Japanese language.

Previously published in the Power Japanese series as Core Words and Phrases: Things You Can't Find in a Dictionary.

About the Author

Kakuko Shoji, a resident of Honolulu, is a longtime instructor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She is the author of Basic Connections: Making Your Japanese Flow and Kodansha's Effective Japanese Usage Dictionary: A Concise Explanation of Frequently Confused Words and Phrases.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 131 pages
• Publisher: Kodansha International; 2nd edition (September 4, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 4770027745
• ISBN-13: 978-4770027740
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #57,130 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great List of Expressions that are not in Dictionaries, August 7, 2001

By	Elijah Zupancic (Kawasaki, Japan) - See all my reviews

I feel that my comprehension of written Japanese has improved as a result of reading this book. By reading novels in Japanese I found out how insufficient most dictionaries and grammar references are with regard to the Japanese I often found in novels. Thus, I was quite pleased when I found this book because it seemed to cover a lot of the words that I had been unsuccessfully searching for in dictionaries. This book is broken down into two sections: �gdemonstrative pronouns�h and �gidiomatic expression.�h Under each section there is a list of phrases; each phrase covered receives over a paragraph long explanation, as well as numerous example sentences. Furthermore, I feel that this book�fs best point is the selection of words covered. Thus, I feel that this book is a good value because you will likely not find the same expressions in other resources. Also, I think that this book has particular value to those students who want to start to gain confidence reading Japanese literature.

47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A little more advanced than I was looking for, March 25, 2002

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This book seems quite useful, and is well-indexed... but this is really for intermediate to advanced students of Japanese. To use this book, you should be able to read some Kanji, and already have a good knowledge of Japanese sentence structure and a reasonable vocabulary.

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wish I'd bought this sooner!, May 30, 2004

By	J. FELLA (Albany, Or United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    (VINE VOICE)

This book really is excellent in every way. I'm an intermediate/advanced japanese student, although I mainly study on my own these days. Because of that, I needed something to teach me some of the little things that are difficult to find in a book, yet are a big part of the language, and this book does that. It has a HUGE list of Japanese idioms, set phrases, and similar grammatical tools that are absolutely integral to the Japanese language, and I often found myself going "Oh yah, that's the kind of thing I would say in English, but never thought to learn it in Japanese!"

Basically, if you want to take a break from the textbooks and learn some really good fundamental and natural Japanese grammar, this book is for you. For the price, you simply can't beat it. I also HIGHLY recommend "Basic Connections:Making Your Japanese Flow." With those two books, you'll have enough info to last you a long time!